Need to convert all text to outlines even when grouped

[hdmnm]

Right now ID4 won't let me "select all" in a document then choose "create outlines" and successfully convert all live type to outlines... it skips grouped text. Ungrouping text can be problematic for loosing effects that are applied to the group.

Also, when converting text to outlines when there is a drop shadow applied to the text, ID4 often changes the global lighting direction of the drop shadow.

[Peter Spier]

Aside from the usual question of "why on earth would any reasonable person want to outline perfectly good text when they can export to PDF with the font embedded?" you can accomplish what you want by being sure the transparency flattener is invoked (i.e. make sure there is something using transparency on the page and export to Acrobat 4 compatibility) and set up a custom flattener preset that converts all text to outlines.

[hdmnm]

Take it a step further: "Why would any reasonable person want to flatten perfectly good transparency?" Ah, that's right, because the printer/publication is too cheap to upgrade their RIP. A lot of good it does us to have tricked out PDFs these days when printers don't keep up. And flattened PDFs freak out clients and printers because they all see the "white line issue" around transparent items and think they'll print. Try telling a client that can barely navigate to their own desktop how to change their Acrobat preferences, or to explain to them how, "Well, if the white line gets bigger when you zoom, it will print, if the white line stays the same size, it won't"... then do that for one or two people every day all year.

All my PDFs destined for newsprint are rasterized (oh, the horror) in Photoshop then re-saved as a image PDFs just to keep "accidents" from happening. Picture 50+ student newspapers and publications across the country, each with their own quirky issues... not to mention student interns running the RIPs.

But the font outlining issue is for when my files have to go to a place where they want vector lines and/or to open it in Illustrator for tweaks or output. Plus, I have to deal with so many different places for point-of-purchase products that it's just easier to "give in" and outline the fonts. I'd rather that then send them my fonts I've paid for so they can steal them and be cool, too

I really do appreciate the work-around suggestion. But we really do need this in ID4... I think if they removed the ability to outline all type (even grouped) in one fell swoop from AI, you "might" hear a bit of negative feedback

[BenCloutier-kuQIDz]

Did you tryed with this script?

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchange/index.cfm?event=extensionDetail&loc=en_us&extid=1622542

I didn't test it on big multipages document yet but it seems to do a great job on a single page.

[photon_poet]

I second the request.

[David_London_N4]

Because certain CJK typefaces are restricked, unable to embeded. The only way to create a printable PDF, first, it will need to be outlined the texts.

[Peter Spier]

Make sure you check the license carefully. It's not uncommon for restricted fonts to prohibit outlining as well. Are you unable to find suitable unrestricted fonts?

[ingenieroleon]

As a programmer i thought that the people on programming forums where rude and unhelpful sometimes, but reading your answer i now see them as the good samaritan...
Please learn from eSixtyFour how to answer, precise and just for help, sometimes people need to do something for different reasons the most notable reason being because they want to

[Laubender]

I'd say: Never ever use the InDesign function "Create Outlines".

Even, if you absolutely have to do it, don't do it with "Create Outlines", instead do it while exporting to PDF with a appropriate transparency reduction set. And then only, if two exceptions will apply:

1. You have to produce outlines for a curve plotter, that uses knifes to cut out the text.

2. You are using restricted fonts you are not be able to store into a PDF.

Uwe

[eSixtyFour]

Man - what is it about people who answer a question by ridiculing the person for asking it in the first place!

Did any of you condescending folk consider that the reason for wanting to convert text to outlines was nothing to do with font licenses, and could be to do with needing to divide objects - which won't work on text objects.

Anyway, putting all that to one side, here is the answer:

To convert all text into outlines even when grouped:

• Got to the Select menu, open the Object sub-menu and choose All Text Objects.

• Then from the main Type menu choose Create Outlines.

Hope that helps you achieve what you want to do, regardless of why you want to do it. I for one have some valid reasons for need to do this, the most notable reason being because I want to.

[Laubender]

I see no problem to create outlines for stylistic reasons.

However, the OP wants to create outlines of all text on a page.

At least I understood his goal here this way. See answer #2.

That should be done not in the InDesign document, but when exporting to PDF.
Or in Acrobat Pro after opening the PDF. And it can be done there perfectly. Doing it on the page comes with some surprises:

Missing underlines, stroke alignment of text is wrong, stroke weight of text is wrong after creating outlines, etc.pp.

In this scenario here, there is simply no need to do it on the actual page.

Uwe

[WillDuffy]

^ Actual answer here, thanks for being a normal kind person

[nibeditam6099594]

Yes!!! I got my answer.... yeeeee.....You are the best!!!

[BobLevine]

This thread is 10 years old and has long since run its course.